Heretofore crustaceans have been conveyed from one location to another on common conveyor belts, in vibrating troughs, and through conduits and the like. However, when shrimp are conveyed in this manner they arrive at their destination in random orientations. Thus, these forms of conveyances are ineffective for use in sorting and deheading shrimp which must be properly presented and oriented to processing devices such as sorters, deheaders, deveiners, and the like.
Specially designed mechanisms such as push bars and pawls have been associated with conveyors in an attempt to orient shrimp properly for processing. These however have proven to be unreliable and have enjoyed no significant commercial success. Exemplary of such prior art attempts at automating shrimp processing are those machine and methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,696,466, 3,784,007, 3,897,610, 4,016,625, and 4,692,965.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need has long existed for methods and apparatuses for processing shrimp on an automated basis, and particularly to methods and apparatuses for conveying, sorting and deheading in a commercially efficient and effective manner. It is to the provision of such methods and apparatuses therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.